Morning Light
by VioletVappy
Summary: A chronicle of the nightly moments shared by two Elves as they slowly fall in love.
1. Chapter 1

"El, are you sure we'll be safe here?"

Elieri's nose crinkled as she scoured the dunes, her tired eyes scanning every crease and fold in the Alik'r landscape. Oliwien rose silently, lifting herself from the light of the burning fire and moving with the grace of a cloud to plant herself at the Wood Elf's side.

"Probably?" Elieri said, with a small shrug. "I made sure we lost our tail, covered our tracks, etcetera…" She trailed off, turning her worn gaze towards the Altmer. Oliwien dwarfed Elieri when she was standing, easily a good meter taller than her. But right now they were equal, sitting face to face for the first time. "Your face looks nice from this angle, Oliwien."

Oliwien shrugged and turned her ember-eyed gaze towards the horizon. Compliments from Elieri rarely came without some sort of backhand, though the level to which she was serious often waned. This time however, the backhand never came. It was instead replaced by a hand placed gingerly on her shoulder.

"Come on, we'll be fine." Elieri said, forcing a smile through her sleep deprived face as she passed the mage and walked further into the cave. "I promise." Oliwien sighed and stood up as much as she could, having to hunch slightly to fit her form through entrance to the cave, her white and orange robe flowing with her turn, and her footfalls as silent as the churning sand beneath their abode.

She rounded a craggy bend to find Elieri stoking the fire, poking at it with one of her swords. The Bosmer had her tongue sticking out as she carefully aligned the logs in the fire to her liking. This earned a chuckle from the Altmer as she came and sat across from Elieri, removing her sandals and putting them next to Elieri's pack.

"Having fun, hero?" She teased, lifting an eyebrow as Elieri gazed up at her with an annoyed look on her face.

"You're the mage here, why aren't you doing this?" She said, a smile teasing at her lips.

"Please, this is _much_ more entertaining." The High Elf mused, grabbing her staff from the corner of the cave and working her lithe, long fingers over its form. "Besides, this has needed to be done for a while, ever since we left Sentinel." Oliwien reached into her cloak and produced a battered but slightly glowing soul gem and held it aloft, muttering something under her breath as she did so.

Elieri opened her mouth and looked up at her partner to argue, but was instead caught a bit off-guard by what she was doing. Not that this was anything out of the ordinary, she had witnessed the recharging ritual dozens of times since meeting Oliwien, but every time she went about it the practice fascinated the Wood Elf, almost to the point of…comfort.

The Bosmer's eyes followed the gem in the mage's hand as she waved it slowly through the air, backwards and forwards, in small circles. She never bothered to ask what the point of all this was, the inner workings of such a practice held very little use to someone who specialized in the use of blade and bow, but it was hypnotic the way her companion seemed to tap effortlessly into the eb and flow of Magicka which, even in this cave, was strong as ever in the capable hands of Oliwien.

"So, where did you learn to do all of this, anyway?" Elieri said, almost unaware of her own words as the glow in the soul gem began to grow slightly, pulsing in rhythm with Oliwien's movements. Oliwien faltered for a moment, almost as if shocked that there was anyone still in the cave with her.

"Do you want the long version or the short version?" She asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. "I'm willing to answer both, as you can imagine I'm not particularly tired." Elieri sighed and pulled her cot to the side of the fire, adjacent to the focusing mage. Climbing into it, she removed a layer of leathers covering the top half of her body, leaving only a makeshift cloth wrap to cover her chest as she lay down and gaze sleepily at Oliwien, who was having slightly noticeable issues focusing.

"Short version is fine for now; I'd feel rude falling asleep in the middle of a thrilling story." Elieri said, yawning mid-sentence. Oliwien smiled softly as the soul gem began to softly illuminate the cave a soft teal.

"As you wish." Oliwien said, the fire casting a dour shadow on her focusing face. "I am what the Altmer call a Hulkynd, or 'Broken Child'. I was cast out of my family for a deformity I possessed, and forced to live in the Summerset wilderness." Oliwien could feel Elieri's disgust as she began channeling the charge into the staff, feeling the energy well from within her. "Often, I met Sapiarchs travelling the roads, studying the wilds, and having open air lessons. They would never interact with a filthy Hulkynd, so I remained hidden and watched their lessons from afar." Her voice caught for a moment, before she took a deep breath and continued. "I…thought that if I could learn magic I could fix myself, make my family love me again. I suppose it's too late for that now, however."

"Fuck…I'm so sorry, Oliwien." Elieri said, resting a tentative hand on the Altmer's knee. "You seem rather adept, though. You learned all this from watching lessons?" Oliwien chuckled and shook her head as the connection from the soul gem to the staff slowly started to fade.

"No. I learned much, but wasn't able to apply it until much later." She said with an exhaled breath. "Much…much later." A violet shiver overcame Oliwien as she dropped the staff with a gasp. Elieri shot upwards in her cot with a look of immediate concern on her face.

"W-what's wrong?" She said in a panicked tone as Oliwien put her hands over her mouth, her breathing becoming heavy and raspy. Silence followed for what felt like an eternity before Elieri cautiously stood up and went to retrieve her pack. "I might have something in here that can help, there are lots of herbal…" her sentence trailed off as a shadow loomed over her, thrown against the wall like a twisted painting by the light of the fire. Turning around she was met with the sight of Oliwien, her figure dark and her face hidden by shadows, save for two red blotches where her eyes would normally be.

"Oliwien..?"

A loud, unnatural hiss filled the cave as Oliwien dove at Elieri, her eyes glowing with bloodlust. Elieri reacted on instinct, rolling out of the way of the vampire's lunge and reaching for her dagger, drawing it with the sheath still attached.

"Feed." Oliwien growled, her voice significantly deeper than normal. She rose from her toppled state, standing over the small Wood Elf as they circled.

"Oliwien you don't want to do this." Elieri said as she started to recover from the shock of being ambushed by her normally docile travelling partner.

"Blood…" The Altmer chanted as she once again dove at Elieri, who spun to the side and placed a carefully measured strike with the hilt of her dagger on the back of Oliwien's neck, sending her large form crashing to the cave floor. Taking the opportunity, Elieri placed the dagger back on her thigh and threw herself on top of Oliwien, forcing her face into the ground as she straddled her back.

"I don't want to hurt you, Oliwien." The Bosmer said with an air of slight bravado, as she wrestled to keep Oliwien on the floor. "So knock it off." There was a sudden shift in momentum as Elieri was thrown to her side, her arms being pinned above her head as she stared up at the growling force that was bearing its fangs down her neck. With a grunt, Elieri forced her feet onto the Altmer's stomach then extended her legs, throwing Oliwien off of her and back a few feet, landing inches from the fire.

"I said stop!" Elieri shouted angrily as she threw herself once more on top of Oliwien, straddling her and allowing her instincts to once again take over as she dug her growing claws into the wrists of the High Elf, causing her to whimper in pain. "It's me! Elieri!" Elieri's cries were met with a soft hiss as the vampire beneath her stared up at the small Bosmer. Oliwien's eyes swirled in an awful blood red as tears streamed down her face, staining the stone floor beneath the two. Something inside Elieri clicked, prompting her to withdraw her claws and instead wrap her arms around the struggling Altmer, pulling her face to Oliwien's chest.

Slowly the hissing began to subside as Oliwien's breathing normalized, causing Elieri's face to gently rise and fall to the sound of pained breaths coming from her companion's mouth. Following this came soft sobs and Oliwien's arms wrapping around the Bosmer's small frame.

"I'm sorry…" Oliwien whispered, her sobbing intensifying as she clung to Elieri, holding her as tight to her body as she could. "Please don't get rid of me." Elieri felt her canine instinct fall from her completely with these words.

"I won't, Oliwien." She said, tightening the grip of her hug on the Altmer's body, feeling every shake and shudder in Oliwien's crying frame. "I promise, you're safe with me."

"Yes maybe…" Oliwien said with a loud sniff. "But you aren't…" The Altmer sat up, causing Elieri to slump humorously downward into her lap, where she sat up and moved to face Oliwien, her green eyes shimmering slightly. Elieri reached up and placed a hand on her companion's cheek, which was quickly covered by one of Oliwien's as they stared into each other's eyes.

"Trust me, I'll be fine." Elieri said in the most convincing voice she could manage. "I know that wasn't you." This seemed to surprise Oliwien somewhat, providing Elieri with a moment to continue. "I'm like you…well…not exactly like you, but I can understand losing control like that. The entire reason I'm not happily hunting with my tribe in Valenwood is because of…an incident like that." Elieri cast her gaze downward slightly before lightly shaking her head, her messy hair falling away from her face.

"I see…I'm sorry to hear that." Oliwien said softly, her voice hoarse. "Though I'm glad you at least understand." Elieri put on an incredibly unconvincing smile and chuckled.

"I do, you're safe." She said as she let out a sigh, throwing her gaze towards her pack, the contents of which were strewn about the cave. "Hey..are you safe to be alone for a few minutes?"

"Yes, I think I am." The Altmer said, regaining some of the elegance from before her transformation. "Why do you ask?" Elieri gave her one last hug and then stood upright, walking over to her pack and examining what was left of its contents.

"Because we're out of food." Elieri grumbled. "I should go hunting, should I bring back something for you to feed on? Do vampires feed on animal blood…?" Oliwien let out a small giggle as she too stood up.

"Some can't, but I can." She said, moving out of Elieri's path to the entrance of the cave. "I have no preference, other than that it's warm blooded." She let her tongue hang out slightly as she grimaced. "Cold blooded animals are disgusting." This earned a chuckle from Elieri as she gathered her bow and a few arrows, stringing her quiver on her hip.

"No snakes, got it." Elieri said confidently, checking over her equipment.

"Um…" Oliwien said, a small blush forming on her cheeks.

"Yes?" Elieri turned to face her, a puzzled look on her face.

"Are you going to wear a shirt?"

Elieri looked down at her exposed midriff and almost exposed chest and then chuckled, shaking her head.

"The desert is hot." She said with marked bravado as she made her way to the edge of the cave, waved, then jumped downward into the sands below.

"It's night." Oliwien said as she chuckled and went to sit on her cot. Gazing at her slightly damaged wrists she sighed and began to lick at her wounds, letting the fire go out as she did so. Elieri would be back soon, she should probably clean up.

Probably.


	2. Chapter 2

An arrow pierced the frigid Skyrim air, a soft whistle echoing through the pines as it flew. With a sharp and echoing _thwack_ the arrow buried its bone tip into the side of a deer, piercing both its lungs and felling the beast before it could so much as let out a cry. Roughly thirty meters away, a Bosmer swings downwards from an oak branch by her knees, her crimson hair hanging in the wind as she examined her kill. Pleased with her mark, she straightened her legs and dropped to the ground, landing with a soft and graceful thud.

"You weren't lying when you said you were a good hunter." Oliwien said from an adjacent tree as she leaned back against it, admiring the lithe Wood Elf as she descended on the fallen deer.

"All Bosmer are." Elieri chuckled, hefting the entire deer over her shoulder and wrapping an arm around it. Oliwien seemed shocked that her companion's small frame could lift something bigger than her with no effort. "Though I am better than most." Elieri said as she walked past Oliwien, winking confidently at the Altmer as she passed and started making her way back to a large cluster of oak and pine trees, cleared earlier by Oliwien. In the center of this small camp were the two's cots, a small campfire, and a roasting spit over aforementioned fire. With a small grunt, Elieri hefted the deer onto a rock near the entrance to their clearing and drew the dagger attached to her thigh.

"You consistently find new ways to surprise me, El." Oliwien mused as she silently glided past Elieri, trailing a lithe finger across the small Mer's shoulders as she went along. "Oh, do keep the blood if you can." Elieri nodded, spinning the weapon in her hands before digging it into the kill, beginning to carve it for food.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want another Alik'r incident, now would we?" She said, glancing over to see the look of genuine sadness and regret on her companion's face.

"I said I was sorry, I didn't mean to…" Oliwien said, casting her eyes downwards as a feeling of tightening gripped her gut. With a sigh, Elieri hefted a rather large chunk of useable meat from the deer's flank, bringing the dripping mass to the spit and effortlessly spearing it through before setting it to cook.

"I know you're sorry, silly." She said mirthfully, throwing Oliwien a wink. "I'm just teasing you!" Oliwien let out a pained sigh and turned to her pack, rummaging through it.

"I know."

Elieri let out a sigh of her own before turning back to the deer and resuming her carving. The camp sat quiet for a moment, Oliwien producing a leather-bound tome from her pack. The book was a light blueish-grey and bore the symbol indicative of the Destruction School of magic. Maneuvering her fingers through the pages, she found her mark and began reading. Elieri returned with another slab of meat, once again running it through with the spit before moving to her pack and retrieving a flask filled with water. After dumping it over her hands to rid them of blood she sat down in front of the spit and began to rotate it.

"Hey…" She said, her voice soft. "Why does me teasing you bother you so much?" Oliwien's amber eyes flashed gently in surprise at this question.

"I…hadn't really thought about it." She said, glancing up at Elieri before gazing back downward, into the tome. "I don't know." Elieri frowned and shook her head before motioning her companion to move next to her. After a few moments, Oliwien complied, moving closer to Elieri, who responded by putting a hand on the Altmer's shoulder.

"I think you do know." Elieri said frankly. "Please tell me, if I upset you I want to know." Oliwien gazed at Elieri as if angry, before that gaze quickly turned to thinly veiled anguish. She sighed and closed the tome, folding the page corner to mark a continue point.

"You're right, deep down I do." Oliwien murmured, almost being drowned out by the roar of the fire and the creaking of the spit. "But I still couldn't tell you."

"And why is that?" Elieri said, scooting slightly closer to Oliwien and squeezing her shoulder. "I won't judge, after all what place am I in to do that?" Oliwien giggled and shook her head.

"I'm not one for introspection." She said, an upward shift in her tone catching the Bosmer slightly off guard.

"But aren't you a mage?" Elieri joked. "Introspection is like…what you do, right?" Oliwien laughed heartily and shook her head.

"How little you know about my art, El." Oliwien said, her laughing giving way to a pained expression. "Introspection is scary, I'm…I feel…" Her words died in her throat, becoming impossible to formulate.

"You feel…?"

"I feel vulnerable." Oliwien said, her voice almost a whisper at this point. "And that scares me."

"I…" Elieri started to speak before one of Oliwien's delicate fingers met her lips.

"You can't fix it, El." She murmured, before standing up and moving back to her cot, opening the book again and appearing to read it, her expression blank and her eyes lidded. Elieri watched her, a knot in her stomach as the Altmer moved away from her side. Several minutes passed, each felt like a Kalpa in its own right, before Elieri broke the silence with the clang of metal on metal as she moved the spit onto a cooling rack.

"Maybe I can't." She said, her tone one of palpable determination. "But I want to help." Oliwien let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Why?"

"Huh?"  
"Why do you want to help me?" Oliwien growled, not looking up from her book. "What have I done for you?" Elieri, finishing her work at the rack, cut herself a piece of meat and began to eat it off of her dagger.

"What does anyone do for anyone?" She said in a muffled voice, food still in her mouth. "I've saved people's lives and still had them try to murder me." She swallowed the meat and took a short moment to beam contently at its quality before continuing her monologue. "If you had done something monumental for me would I owe you my life? No." Oliwien looked up from her book, seemingly intrigued. "I do things because I want to do them, and there's no other reason for it." Oliwien chuckled softly at her companion's philosophical musings.

"You really are the hero-type, aren't you, El?" She said in a teasing voice. Elieri laughed and took another bite from her meat-dagger.

"I'm no hero, maybe I'm selfish in my own way." Elieri said proudly, swallowing another bite and immediately taking another. "After all, what kind of hero am I if I only help people if it makes _me _feel good?"

"A normal one." Oliwien said, prompting another laugh from her companion.

"Perhaps." Elieri said as she swallowed the final bite of meat and let out a small, muffled burp. "My point is that I care about you, and want to help." Oliwien's eyes widened slightly, flashing orange in surprise.

"You…care about me?" She stammered, shocked. "I…but…"

"Why does that surprise you?" Elieri mused as she gazed at Oliwien, raising an eyebrow. Oliwien shot upright, as if surprised that someone else was in the room with her.

"Well…" She said in a flustered and disheveled tone. "We just met."

"Oliwien we've been travelling together for 3 months." Elieri said as she began scooting over to Oliwien's side, who gazed down at her before trailing her eyes to look at the entrance of the clearing.

"I'm…not used to be cared about." Oliwien said quietly, earning a puzzled look from the small Bosmer. "You are the first person I've ever met to not take advantage of me, use me, or try to kill me, or r…" Her voice dropped instantly as the words died in her throat. Elieri shook her head and wrapped her arms around the Altmer's waist, pushing her face into Oliwien's hip. The two remained this way for a few moments before Oliwien gently started running a hand through Elieri's short hair, pushing it in and out of the way of her verdant eyes as they stared up at the solemn Altmer.

"We'll I'm not like most people." Elieri said in a calming voice, releasing her grip on Oliwien's waist and falling into her lap, her hair falling all around her head as she stared up at her companion.

"That is certainly the truth." Oliwien sighed, beginning to stroke Elieri's hair again. "I don't understand you, El."

"Don't worry, I don't either." Elieri said, a smile forming on her lips as she closed her eyes and pushed into Oliwien's hand.

"I think I might like to, someday."

"Yeah, we'll see."


End file.
